came out of the London Peace Conference and went directly on the ship to return to the Qing Dynasty, which lasted for several months, and Li Hongzhang was also tossed enough.

You know, the traffic level of this year is like this, you didn't die on the road, it is considered your life. Therefore, engaging in diplomacy is really not an easy job.

But however, Li Hongzhang, who returned to the Qing Dynasty and went ashore, did not go anywhere else, he took a boat directly to Hongkou, that is, the boundary of SHANGHAI, and as soon as he went ashore, Li Hongzhang went straight to Gaochang Temple, because the person he wanted to see most now was in this place!

So who does Li Hongzhang want to meet?

"The teacher is above, please accept Shaoquan's worship!"

At this time, Li Hongzhang gave a big gift to an old man who was thin and thin, his hair was a little yellow, and his braids were sparse!

"Shaoquan hurry up, there is no need to be like this, there is no need to be like this."

Who is this old man?

He is none other than Zeng Guofan, a scholar of Tirenge University who is now supervising foreign affairs and presiding over the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau!

Zeng Guofan is too famous, if Li Mengyang sees it, then he may not know what to do, because there are so many studies on this person in later generations that it is not good, don't say anything else, Jiang Guangtou held a copy of "The Complete Works of Zeng Wenzhenggong" in his hand when he was negotiating in Chongqing.

And now, Zeng Guofan doesn't know his nickname, he hasn't died yet, but this old man who single-handedly trained the Hunan army, destroyed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and exterminated the Twist Army, and came to supervise foreign affairs at this time, this old man ...... Just look like this?

You can't judge people by their appearance, Zeng Guofan is like this, just a dry old man.

But. Li Hongzhang has great respect for Zeng Guofan. And this time he came really suddenly.

No matter what. When they came, they sat down separately, only to hear Zeng Guofan ask: "Shaoquan, why are you coming to me?" Why did you do that just now? ”

Li Hongzhang didn't dare to slack off, and said respectfully: "I haven't seen my teacher for a long time, so I'm here to ask for peace." ”

It is estimated that Li Hongzhang himself did not believe what he said. But in this officialdom, coupled with the fact that Li Hongzhang himself is Zeng Guofan's staff, he was mentioned by the top leader, so his attitude is naturally like this, and he naturally has to go around in circles when he speaks.

Zeng Guofan naturally understood, he said with a smile: "You and my brother, you don't have to be so angry when you speak. I think you just came back from England this time, I'm afraid those foreigners, especially the French, are not so easy to deal with, right? ”

"Mentor Mingjian!" Li Hongzhang said with a grateful face: "My teacher knows me, and I also know the situation in the world. Then the French are really difficult to deal with. Before the disciple left, Prince Gong entrusted him with an important task. Let the disciples not offend the French no matter what, but explain to the French at the negotiation table that it is better not to fight between us, and that everyone in Vietnam can be reasonable, and even allowed me the right to use money, but those French people are like stones in a pit, smelly and hard......"

Li Hongzhang was originally a humble gentleman, but when he mentioned negotiations with the French, he couldn't help it. There's no way, he's really eating turtles here in London, the French are too unreasonable. Therefore, this statement exposes his rogue side, but fortunately, Zeng Guofan is an acquaintance.

"Shaoquan, so in that case, the French must fight Vietnam? Their wolf ambitions have been coveted in Vietnam for a long time? Zeng Guofan didn't mind, he was still concerned about the situation of the London meeting.

"This ......" Li Hongzhang knew that he had said the key, "Master, I think that the French are not as simple as just Vietnam, in London, they want Taiwan with me!" ”

"Huh?!"

Having said that, Zeng Guofan also understands that the feelings of those French people are not small!

Let's talk about Vietnam first, it's just a fanbang, and then look at Taiwan, that's the land of my Qing Dynasty...... Zeng Guofan was able to think about this matter clearly in his mind, the French were probably drunkards from the beginning, and they probably had the idea of fighting Taiwan from the beginning!

But...... Could it be that what these guys want is to destroy my Qing Dynasty?

The more Zeng Guofan thought about it, the more he felt a chill down his spine, this time the French can be said to be menacing, and they are simply strong words, and they have to give them inches, how can Taiwan give them them?

And what is more critical is the attitude in the court now, which is now divided into two factions, one is the main battle, the other is not standing, and neither is the main peace, because the French are fighting Vietnam, what does it have to do with us?

But looking at it now, where do the French want Vietnam, they are clearly coming to attack our Daqing!

But it's not right, do the French have any excuses?

That's right!

Zeng Guofan finally thought of it, probably because France suffered a loss when it fought with the New Tang Dynasty Empire before, and his heart was unbalanced, and when Vietnam was cleaned up, then I am afraid that the next thing is to use this excuse, that is, between us and the New Tang Dynasty...... Fuck, we don't have anything to do with each other, those guys are thieves!

No matter how famous Zeng Guofan is, he can't escape the stereotyped worldview, and in his eyes, those who go outside the territory to establish a country are rebellious.

"Teacher, teacher?" Li Hongzhang saw that Zeng Guofan had not spoken for a long time, so he was a little worried.

"Oh, Shaoquan, the French want Taiwan, then you definitely can't agree." Zeng Guofan was casually confused, he was really thinking about something else just now.

"Of course, I can't say yes. Teacher, it seems to me that those French Yi will use troops against me. Speaking of which, Li Hongzhang didn't say anything, he wanted to wait for Zeng Guofan to continue.

"......" But Zeng Guofan didn't speak, he knew what Li Hongzhang meant, but he just didn't speak.

Come on!

Li Hongzhang had no choice but to say everything he thought, "Teacher, you said that if the French come to beat us, what will we do?" ”

Yes, there are signs of this now.

"Hey~" Zeng Guofan sighed, then scratched his head and said: "Then where can we fight the French?" ”

This sentence is really helpless!

Zeng Guofan is not a coward, he has also led soldiers to fight. Came out of the sea of blood in the mountain of corpses. He is not afraid of war. But now he is supervising foreign affairs, and the more he engages in this thing, the more he understands the gap between the Qing Kingdom and those Western Yi.

This battle can't be fought, there is no need to fight, there is still nothing on the side of the Qing Dynasty, let's just say that this Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, this is just introduced from the United States some machine tools, and it has not been two years since it was built. It can be said that there is nothing, so how can you fight with other people's strong ships and cannons?

To say that just these machines, the foreign affairs of the entire Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau are still carried out very quickly, and the machine is a guy named Rong Hong who helped buy it from the United States, oh, from the United States.

In other words, this is the highest place in the Qing Dynasty, but what can be produced in such a place?

You can't even get a nail!

There is no foundation, and now is in the stage of laying the foundation, but now. It's not to fight with the French.

That's right. Li Hongzhang actually understands that of course he is not here to listen to this.

"Teacher, since this is already the case, how should I deal with myself Shaoquan?"

Yes, that's the most critical question!

Why is Li Hongzhang here?

It should be said that he is just going to ask this, but this question is by no means as simple as it seems, Li Hongzhang is actually asking who can win between Prince Gong and Cixi in the court!

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the current Qing Dynasty cannot fight with France, because there is no chance of victory, and the place in Vietnam will be given to France to them, but Vietnam is also a vassal, and it sounds bad if it loses its vassal.

Cixi seized this opportunity, and there were people to help her, it was those clear streams, so she just took advantage of this opportunity to bring down Prince Gong!

The vassal can't protect it, isn't that losing the face of our Great Qing Kingdom?

How can you, Prince Gong, be afraid of battle and cowardice?

Anyway, there are reasons, but Prince Gong is not in vain!

Minister of Military Aircraft Foreman, Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs, Central Supervision of Foreign Affairs...... These are all real powers, not to mention that Prince Gong's younger brother is still in charge of the soldiers.

Now that the foreign enemy is about to invade, who can kill who above the court?

It sounds a little disturbing, but this is the case, and Li Hongzhang is also very smart, he does things, negotiates with him, but his ability is like this, and others are not much better than him, so he wants to know how he should protect himself, that is, who will win between Cixi and Prince Gong, and then he will defect to whom.

This is really a helpless thing, Li Hongzhang's position can only be chosen like this.

So, will Zeng Guofan give him an answer?

I only heard Zeng Guofan think for a while and say: "Si Chen, it's not a good thing after all. But ......"

Okay, Li Hongzhang understands!

Si Chen is the old hen crowing, crowing is not what the old hen should do, but she just did it, so what do you let the rooster think? What do dogs think? ……

To put it simply, Zeng Guofan's meaning is that Cixi came to power, which is really not good, but, just this one word, how helpless!

There's no way, she can't stop Cixi, because all the right means she is using now are the right ones, and others can't find anything wrong, according to the political thinking of Confucian generals, she is not wrong.

If others can't find fault with her, how can they stop her?

The fact that Prince Gong is going to be ousted from power is probably a certainty!

But however, Li Hongzhang asked again.

"Teacher, do you think the imperial court will use your old man's house?"

This question is very good, because this question is actually an answer, Li Hongzhang is suing Zeng Guofan, I understand.

Because Zeng Guofan is going to be enabled, it means that the imperial court is going to fight with the French, so how can the current Zeng Guofan, who has trained the only commander of a strong army in the Qing Dynasty, who supports the general of the building and turns the tide in the fall, how can he be missing?

"Hahaha......" Unexpectedly, Zeng Guofan smiled, "Shaoquan, I'm all the people who are going to be beaten up, don't laugh at me." ”

"Hehe......" Li Hongzhang also laughed.

But however, he actually knew very well in his heart that Zeng Guofan had already given him the answer.

That is the war between the Qing Dynasty and France this time, the result is needless to say, and the most important thing is that there is no one available on the Qing side! (To be continued......)

PS: Ask for subscription! Ask for support! Black car thank you!